About last night …

Your Montreal Canadiens turned Game 3 into their own unique take on a Mexican holiday: Stinko de Mayo.
And when the smoke cleared and the smell had dissipated – save for generous supplies of bovine excrement dished out during the coach’s press conferences – the Senators had beaten the Canadiens like a pinata.
An undersized, soft pinata at that.

The game – and possibly the series – turned seven minutes into the third period.

Within eight seconds, Ottawa scored twice and won five fights.

Oh, one more thing: Senators coach Paul MacLean won the war of the press conferences.

Michel Therrien fired off the first volley. After acknowledging “we were beaten by a good team”, Therrien sounded off on the timeout MacLean called with 17 seconds left and his team up 6-1.

“I never saw it before,” Therrien said, “and I talked to the referee and he said he never saw it before. As far as I’m concerned, it was classless.”

The winning coach gets to face the media after the loser. Apprised of Therrien’s comments, MacLean began to read off a list of the goon penalties the Canadiens took with the game out of reach: Brandon Prust for elbowing at 16:58, Rene Bourque for cross-checking and slashing at 19:42.

“Under circumstances initiated by the Montreal Canadiens, I was forced to protect my players. I will do that every time.”

Then MacLean made the observation that neatly summarized the Game 3 horror show:

“It got a little bit stupid in the end, but that’s hockey.”

It’s not Montreal Canadiens hockey.

The team, as currently constituted, cannot win a game that turns into a street fight.

If the Canadiens think they can outmuscle Ottawa, this series is going to be over in five games.

This is not 1976, when Scotty Bowman had a lineup that could score goals AND pound the snot out of the Broad St. Bullies.

The 2013 Canadiens don’t have Pierre Bouchard, Rick Chartraw and Larry Robinson. They don’t have Chris Chelios to tune up Brian Propp. They don’t have Chris Nilan and John Kordic to throw down with the hated Nordiques.

They don’t even have Todd Ewen.

Brandon Prust has the heart of a lion. But how is he going to protect teammates who are too small for some rides at La Ronde?

Eric Gryba probably will return to the Ottawa lineup for Game 4 on Tuesday. Here’s a fearless prediction: If the Canadiens try to wreak revenge on Gryba for his hit on Lars Eller, they’re going to be facing elimination at the Bell Centre on Thursday.

Whether speed and skill are sufficient to win in the NHL playoffs is a question Marc Bergevin will contemplate and address in the off-season. For now, the Canadiens have to play the style that won the Northeast Division this season.

That style was rarely in evidence through the two periods during which Game 3 was still competitive.

By focusing his postgame remarks on MacLean’s allegedly grave insult to the sacred memory of Howie Morenz, Therrien was able to avoid talking about the real reasons his team trails in this series.

Let’s start with one of the Canadiens who didn’t fight Sunday night.

David Desharnais was signed to a four-year, $14 million contract extension this season. Through three games of this series, DD has played 52:22 – including 9:11 on the power play.

He has yet to register a shot on goal.

This is the number two centre on a playoff team?

OK, so maybe DD doesn’t have to shoot. He’s in the lineup for playmaking. Maybe he’s feeding his linemates.

Desharnais is not the main reason the Canadiens got bent over a log in Game 3.

Carey Price did not look on the Jean-Gabriel Pageau goal that proved to be the winner … nor on the other two by the Ottawa rookie. As was the case in Game 1, Ottawa got the better goaltending.

Price got no help from his defencemen. Andrei Markov was a turnstile. P.K. lost his s–t and took a bunch of bad penalties.

The power play sucked again. Its ineptitude was particularly damaging in the first period. Chris Neil came out determined to maim everyone in a white jersey, and a PP goal or two might have cooled his homicidal ardor.

As it was, Neil’s aggression set the tone for the game. And when the Canadiens tried to “send a message”, they were outgooned and outgunned … by a lot.

Your Canadiens don’t have the horses or the heavyweights to wage war against Neil, Jared Cowen, Zack Smith et al.

They have to regroup, refocus and play their game – to the extent they can in the postseason, when the ice seems to get a lot smaller.

1,020 Comments

Has there been any word on what tomorrow’s lineup will look like? The Sens pounded us hard, and with Pacioretty and Gionta already playing with injuries, I would not be surprised that one, or both, of them will not play. Gallagher also took quite a pounding. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is not 100% going forward. There were others, but those guys come to mind. Game 4 could have a totally different look to it from the perspective of our lineup.

The Sens learned quite quickly what it takes to beat (dominate) the Habs. Others have learned it in the past ( Philly, Toronto, Boston ). I expect the same thing from Ottawa next game. Why would they change a formula that works well? In hockey circles, many agree that whoever wins game 3 in a seven game series goes on to win that series. Hopefully the Habs can break that theory, but they will have to come up with one heck of a game plan from here on if they are to be successful. I love this team, but I don’t think they have the horses. I would love for them to prove me wrong.

Game 3 is usually the crucial game in a seven game series. If you win the first two, it goes without saying that winning game 3 puts you in an almost can’t lose scenario. If you lose the first two, obviously winning game 3 is paramount. You don’t want to go down 3-zip. Splitting the first two, if you had home ice advantage, and you lose game 3, as the Habs have done, now you absolutely must win the next game or you go down 3-1 in games and you face elimination in each game from there on. Game 3 is a pivotal game in a seven game series, at least in my circle of hockey “friends”.

I think every game is pivotal, but you are right the 3rd game is considered crucial by many hockey people. I had the good fortune to play hockey at a high level and had Orville Tessier and Mark Crawford as my coaches in junior and they always emphasized game #3.

ORavl Tessier? would that not have been back in the days of 5 game series? I have seriously never heard anyone say that about game 3…ever. Unless a team is down 2-0 but typically game 4 is viewed as the swing game…it is either over, a team is up 3-1 or it is tied and you are evening it up. Game 3 I can’t see being viewed that way .

We’re playing with house money this season. Like ’95 every award or trophy will have an astrix next to it because of the NHL/NHLPA debacle this past year (IMHO).
MB & company have been able to put a few rookies in the line up and are now in the position to analyze short comings when it counts – the playoffs. They’ll make adjustments and next season when there are training camps and a full schedule the Habs will be better off for it – long term. They’re not out yet and they’ve shown 100 x more heart this year than last.

Last night was the first time this year I felt embarrassed as a Habs fan. We attempted to do what we get on every other team for doing; got dirty after the game was out of hand. Only thing that made it worse is, once we did, we got our butts handed to us in THAT aspect of the game as well. A thoroughly embarrassing performance.

I know some people like the goonery and what not, and to each his own; but personally I think last night’s performance will make it very difficult to call out the Bruins/Leafs/Flyers the next time they decide to take liberties with our players without coming across as completely hypocritical….and that makes me sad.

Once it went 4-1 it was over…so I enjoyed the entertainment that ensued there after…if you’re going to lose at least make it entertaining..I loved watching Gallagher try and get in there on Connacher lol

SteverenO: I like your posts for the detail and time you put into them. I do co playlet disagree with the amount of faith you put into your (cherry picked) math examples, but I enjoy them anyway.

But the arrogance it takes for you to claim you know better than an NHL coach who should be playing in which situations is pretty amazing! You think the coaches of the Montreal Canadiens are unprepared and have no idea what to do, but you do?

I mean, it’s definitely not boring, but wow … I’m surprised you would post a statement like that.

jols, I’ve been posting fairly regularly on ALN this season. I have a game recap on page one of this thread, and on my blog too, I use it mostly as an archive for my posts here, since this site isn’t very functional and searchable.

Leblanc back in the lineup eh, hmmmm….interesting though. Although I had thought that maybe Desharnais sit a game or two in the press box…..I thought maybe give Dumont a shot at center in his place. Right now Desharnais isn’t creating any offence, at least we know Dumont will bring energy and he will actually hit guys.

I like your proposed lineup though.

“I think I may have found a way for us to get Griffey and Bonds, and we really won’t have to give up much” -Costanza

Hey, I don’t say a whole lot here, but I really feel strongly about this. despite losing, I REALLY liked that the habs were PISSED OFF. Remember the last time a team layed a beat-down like this on us? what happened after that? I hope we can repeat that. No one’s ever going to say this team is going to win a battle royal, but they will beat you to the net… OK, so we didn’t win that battle either last night, but quite frankly, I thought it was because of a few lucky bounces (and by bounces, i also mean bizarre reffing, like wtf, they weren’t going to call the high-sticking double minor on PK until they saw blood, I know linesman are allowed to step in after the play, but that was sucked). CBC kept repeating it, and its only one game. you can win 10-1 and still lose the series.

we lost eller. halpern should have preplaced eller , (do as best as he can and the other three lines stay intact.
The playoffs are not the time to start experimenting. We wasted our opportunities to experiment whenwe clincjed aplayoof spot with 8 games remaining.

MT said “we are ready for the playoffs” after we beat the Leafs the last game of the season. Nothing could be further from the truth. In over 50 years of watching hockey I have ever seen a team LESS prepared, in terms of line combos, special teams, goaltending (defining the role of the back up) etc.

Its a shame, really.

wwe won game two because we were so undermanned that the game plan was simple…. “cover you man up and down the ice and don:t let them other team get scoring chances”. Everyone worked hard. Price played a strong game (especially when we were shorthanded) and even thoughour PP came up empty,we got, and capitalized, on some scoring chance as a result of strong checking.

Game one and game three we were a team with no plan at all. We allowed the opponents to dictate the game (yes, we got 27 shots in the second period but, so what? we had 9 minutes of time with an extra man. on the PP productivity is measured in goals… not shots.) We lost game one because we were NOT prepared ., The coach did NOT KNOW which players were most likely to produce (goals) on the power play. Game 1 should have been over at the end of two periods, with the HABs leading by 2 or 3 goals.

Give the coaching staff an F , and let’s give it another go next year. Should a miracle happen and we win this series, I believe it would be a disaster, because the next series will be even tougher. we are simply not ready to comptete.

…I think We were the ‘classless’ Team more than the Sens last night, unfortunately responding to the banging around (mostly legal, except for the All-World miscreant Neil) by the Sens, with elbows and stickwork of Our own because We were frustrated and unable to respond sufficiently, bodycheck for bodycheck, (because the Sens is a much bigger and robust team, with sufficient skill and speed of their own)

…it is what it was/is

…I am, though, in the Mattyleg camp having seen Our Habs overcome adversity and bad games before (many, many times more than even Matty, in My case 🙂 )

…I’m not overly-optimistic We will because that was a very thorough bitch-slapping We received last night, …but like Matty says 4 games are required to win the series, and I’m not giving up until one team has won those 4 games

…fully healthy, We have the talent, character and speed to play with most teams of the NHL …I wished We averaged another inch taller and 15 pounds heavier, but that takes nothing away from the heart of Our Guys

…Therrien, whom lost to McLean as much as the Team lost to the Sens last night, will hopefully focus on the positive and prepare the psyches of Our Players to focus on what We do best

After a night to think about it, I have to agree that Habs were the cause of their own collapse in Game #3. They lost every battle in every position.

As upset as I was over McLean, he is coaching a good series so far.

Game 4 will be an indication of our team’s true character. MB has been and will be looking for those players that demonstrate the leadership, character and grit needed to retain and succeed in the future.

Regardless of the outcome this series, I’m excited to see how the Habs respond tomorrow.

Funny thing, on my blog today, one of the most viewed articles is one from October 2011, when I opined on the Perry Pearn firing the day of a game. Reason? Lots of people Googling and hitting on the title of the piece, which was “Montréal Canadiens classless?” As you may recall, there was lots of criticism directed at Pierre Gauthier at the timing of the firing.

So yeah, we didn’t honour ourselves with our showing last night, and a lot of hockey fans took note.

Well its great to see another rivalry to the habs, i see the sens and habs meeting in many more playoffs to come especially with the new conferences. Could be the next big rivalry, also cities are only 2 hours away from 1 another. GO HABS GO

I’ve seen some post on this site and others about the ‘old time hockey.’ Last night was not old time hockey at all, it was a sideshow. Useless fighting and dirty plays are not what makes hockey great. Making hits to make plays, skill and speed make hockey the best game in the world.

That embarassment of a hockey game, on both sides, just deters outside people from taking an interest in hockey. This is the new age of the NHL, the knuckle-dragging goon mentality needs to get out ASAP

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“How would you like a job where when you made a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?” -Jacques Plante

Loonie, agree with you that Gionta vs. Anderson had a large measure of luck. If Gio had in any way whiffed on his shot, it would have easily slipped through the five-hole. Instead, the firm backhand caught the corner of Anderson’s right pad.

“May you live in interesting times.”
P.S. I like your critique of Desharnais’ effort. In the recent past, you had strong criticisms of him, but you have credibility when you can be balanced in analyses of any one player.

Loonie, you are correct, we need Desharnais badly with the loss of Eller. All he can contribute is points and he has to start ASAP. Even AC were calling him out last night, so if he doesn’t pick up his play, the next four years are going to be very uncomfortable for him.

The difference between him this year and last year is tenacity and fearlessness. He doesn’t have it this year. Last year he tried to prove something. This year is when he needs to prove it.

Desharnais out Halpern in. DD can’t win a draw let alone stick around for one, and Halpern was 58% in game two. Also, Halpern has size and speed and isn’t afraid to win puck battles. No brainer. Enough of the DD project.It’s over. mark is F for failure. Ryder and Pacioretty wake up. In the words of Jeremy Roenick WAKE UP, WAKE UP… this is the NHL not rec hockey. Use your size and hit something, go hard to the net, do something anything other than loafing around out there.

Coach won’t do that because it will make the le patron’s decision to gift DD with a lovely contract look bad… very bad. In real life what happens when you make the boss look foolish? You guessed it – so enjoy the quality minutes DD will be thrilling us with.

Desharnais is taking a beating from everyone. He hasn’t contributed much on the scoresheet but his hustle in game two forced the Sens into a mistake and it lead to Ryder’s insurance goal.

I think this has been a combination of bad play and bad optics. Reasonable people are watching Gionta and Gallagher break themselves to make plays for the team and then watch Desharnais not go to dirty areas with any kind of speed and he has also been awful with the puck on his stick in this series.

Having said that he’s needed now more than ever. If he doesn’t turn up the intensity for at least the rest of this series, and consistently during that time. I think calling his character into question is fair.

Edit: I’ve given up on criticizing him here because we need him. He isn’t going to be traded and he’s going to be treated as our best offensive centreman going forward. It’s very disappointing and a poor reflection on management but it is what it is.

Thing about the Habs is…they’re a great regular season team, but they’re not a great playoff team. They’re not built for the post-season. Throw in a goalie who’s hit or miss, and it’s a recipe for disaster. Certainly with parity, the regular season is a mere formality. The difference between 1st and 15th is so slight. A couple of players here or there can make a massive difference, a la Canadiens this year. These days, if you get in, you’ve got a chance. But the intensity increases, as does the desire of the players. You find out quickly in the playoffs who wants it most. And I hate cliches, but that’s what separates the men from the boys.

I do recognize the panicking Habs fans who would like to trade,fire and bench most of the team and the ones that want to hire gorillas instead of hockey players. In a way i admire their will to win and how bad they hate to lose wich should be the way to go for any winning team.

The thing is that it was only one game ,an ugly one i admit but one game. Furthermore nobody expected the team to reach the playoffs and certainly not the way they did.
So maybe the trades you want are in the cards that Bergevin is playing but maybe not now,maybe not next year also.How soon we forgot that last year…

If Therrien starts the exact same line-up and they win there are going to be a lot of people on here looking like idiots. That game last night was an anomaly and will have no effect on the next game. That being said I would start Budaj 🙂

I would start the same lineup but prepare them better. Tell them what to do and what not to do. Discipline ,patience,5 guys in the same zone and go from there. Price deserves another start and if it does not give results then Budaj would fit nicely in game 5. Price should not be the first to blame for yesterday`s fiasco. I would look behind the bench first and although he was perfect since he took over ,yesterday he droped the preparation ball…

Ilove PK but he did not have his greatest game last night. He was all over the place (no wonder Max did not know where he was), and looked not so great missing the opening check, then high sticking, Pageau plus jumping the non combatant Turris and getting himself tossed when we were already down two D-men. The yapping and snapping at each other is a sure sign that the season is unravelling. And why? Team is too small to compete in the grinding playoffs plus our goalie is completely out to lunch, much like he was at the end of the season, always being out played by the other guy no matter who the other guy is.

Jols, the Habs may need more size – they definitely do – but give them credit for having tons of grit. It’s actually the smallest guys on the Habs who are the grittiest. I also think the whole team is all heart: would never question the drive of these guys.

They were not pounded. Gave as good as they got. Pretty sure Turris won’t be cross checking again, although PK shouldn’t have hit him when he was down. People talk like PK “picked his spot”, ok fine, but it was a spot where he was getting cross checked by a guy the same size as him … why not drop ’em in a game that’s already lost?

Anyway, I would say if there was any positive out of last night – and there aren’t many – it was precisely the opposite of what you are saying. The Habs played physical and mean. Didn’t win all the fights but you don’t have to: you just have to fight. Habs can handle Leafs or Bruins by playing their game. In fact either would have been a far easier series. I hate this Ottawa trap defence, it sucks!!

@Bill, I think we agree on some things. I think they did get pounded last night though. That 5 on 5 line brawl was ill advised. I think Tinordi was the only one who held his own, the other 4 guys got demolished. I love the heart Bouillon showed with a much bigger opponent but he still lost and poor Armstrong getting paired against their chief goon, I felt bad for him. Anyway, it is not their style but unfortunately it will get worse if they advance to the 2nd round.(which I think they will).
I just think another big, nasty dman and winger, that can also play the game, is what this team lacks and I am sure Bergevin will address this in the off season. Unfortunately, it will be too late to help us in these playoffs.

I understand guys like Clowe are too expensive to acquire (wonder why that is), but why don’t we try and draft them? I’m sick of drafting smallish offensive stat whores for forwards in the middle rounds. Sure, every blue moon we get a Gallagher, but maybe we can get a Clowe or Lucic.

Considering the size of our roster and most prospects, draft the best player available that doesn’t get pushed around and teach him how to skate.

It’s the first team to 4 wins.
Sens are halfway there, we’re 1/4 of the way there.
Still lots of hockey to play.

We’ve overcome adversity before, and we’ll do it again.
We saw how not to play last night, and we’ll add that to our database and work harder tomorrow.

I’m proud of what we’ve acheived, and if we can’t make it past the first round, then we can’t. We’ll build on that, and come back to work hard again next year.

What I dislike is people being negative under the guise of being ‘realistic’.

We are fans, and have no control whatsoever over what happens on the ice, behind the bench, or in the dressing room. To be negative and criticise our players is pretty poor, if you ask me. We should be supportive of our players – even our weak and underperforming ones – because they are OUR players, and while they wear the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, they deserve our support; they have the supporters of the 29 other teams on their backs – they don’t need their own turning against them.

Added to this; you are not smarter than the coach or the GM. For every one time you may be right, and come on here crowing about it, you are quietly wrong in your mind a thousand times. Support our management team.

It’s all pretty simple.
I’m tired of having to argue with fans of my own team.
We should be looking at positives and fantasizing about what we would do with the players at our disposal. If the coach doesn’t do what we think we would do in his position doesn’t mean that he’s an idiot – how many of your friends have not taken your advice to successful results?

Support the Habs guys and gals.
Love ’em while they’re around, as long or as short as that might be.

You mean it’s possible to be upset but maintain composure and rationality? The irony that Therrien with his tantrum and bench minor was disliked by many of these folks as Bergevin’s choice because of being too hot-headed. We didn’t have any top-40 scorers, and in dominating the Southeast, balanced scoring, and plentiful defense-scoring did the trick. Dominating the Northeast, and Atlantic? Didn’t happen. I’m disappointed in several of the Habs players, but will always pull for them if they’re in Les Tricoleurs. Hoping for more “Ryan White” best-game-as-a-Hab performances.

The thing is Martin used to be criticized for not reacting behind the bench (besides scribbling in his note pad)….
Nothing wrong with Therrien going ballistic with 17 seconds to go in a 6-1 loss.
I remember the Flames leading the Nordiques 8-1 in the last minute when Calgary coach Terry Crisp called a time out. Le Tigre was not a happy camper…

I get it…
but aren’t these blogs supposed to be a place for armchair managing-coaching? It’s part of the entertainment…. proposing unthinkable trades… expounding on what player irritates you one day; then glorifying him the next… firing the coach; then hiring him…
the imperfect, illogical, bipolar, but committed habs fan (in some of us) must be voiced!
Too much level-headed analysis takes the fun out of it…

We had opportunities on the PP last night and didn’t convert at a satisfactory rate. We only had 1 PP goal. Markov isn’t pulling his weight, neither is Diaz (who is -3 overall). The Gorges-Diaz combo is small and can get beaten down low. To scratch Markov would be sacrilegious, therefore I propose scratching Diaz in favor of Beaulieu. He can’t be any worse on the PP.

I’d scratch Bouillon over Diaz any day. Reason being, of all things that Bouillon is struggling with, he’s taking SO long to make decisions out there. At his age and experience, his decision making should be his biggest asset.

Also DD Ryder together is a sure fire fail. Doesn’t matter who they’re with thats a slow line, that doesn’t wing puck battles and hurts us defensively. DD pressbox, Dumont takes his 3rd line spot, Halpern to the 4th. Moen/Armstrong is a toss up.

I’d agree with you, but when you just had Cube re-signed to another year, and DD to a four-year deal, does placing them in the pressbox constitute a slap in the face to MB? Maybe MT has free rein to make line-up decisions, but I suspect that those decisions may be complicated by broader issues.

As for the crap last night. Another solution, if the Senators are going to crosscheck Subban in the face without it being called, the retaliation needs to be directed at Karlsson, not Turris. You start taking cheap shots at their best player as they’re doing with ours.

I really hope Marc Bergevin’s on the phone with Terry Gregson today about a couple of things. The first being this whole faceoff fiasco. Desharnais can’t lean into a faceoff but Jacob Silfverberg can cheat onto Montreal’s side of the faceoff area by over three feet on every faceoff? The Senators can delay puck drops to get their proper setup? They can place their sticks down and then lift them back up to control the drop? Bogus stuff going on when the linesmen have the puck in their hands.

Maclean was protecting his players about as much as Therrien was holding his back.

The team needs to deal with all of this stuff like water off a ducks back. It’s frustrating as hell, but focusing on it takes their minds off the task at hand. They put it aside after the 6-0 game against Toronto, and went on a tremendous streak. They can do it again. Play Montreal Canadiens hockey, and they will prevail.

Even the CBC guys were flabbergasted on the Bourque ‘tripping’ call… and that’s saying something. Just goes to show that they have to shut up and play the game to the best of their ability, and not worry about outside forces, since they can’t do anything about it anyway. That’s for Bergevin to deal with.

Jols: I am going to take your comment seriously. The Habs were definitely not pounded and pushed around. They stepped into the physical play, dropped their gloves, and took plenty of whacks at the Sens. The problem is, that is not their game. They won’t win that way. The Sens are gonna have the physical edge. Their weakness is they can’t score if the other team stays disciplined (their first goal was off a 5 on 3 for god’s sake) and Anderson is merely mortal if they can break through the perimeter and get rebounds.

That’s what they did in game 2 and that’s what they must do in game four.

If they try to play that stupid goon game from last night they are done in five. Stick to the plan and they win in seven.

see here is where I get confused….I did not see the game in its entirety…just bits and pieces but I understood the gooning came after the result had been determined. The Canadiens just came out flat…then got frustrated and gooned it up after knowing they were losing..is this not how it went down? Can someone let me know as I am getting conflicting reports on here. Did the Canadiens come out the gates palying dirty hockey?

I agree that is not their game. For the record, I think they are still going to win this series. However, Ottawa is not a big, bad team and they still got pounded last night. It will just get worse in the 2nd round against either Boston or Toronto – who are big, bad teams.

I like the fact they don’t have a guy who plays 5 minutes a night and can’t do anything but fight. However, anyone that can’t see that this team requires more size and grit is watching with their eyes closed.

You’d swear the world ended last night.
The Habs will win this series.
After game 2 no one said anything, and now, the world is over.
It’s the same team, they got sidetracked and will bounce back, as they have all year long.
The Sens can’t play better than yesterday but we can play much better than that. Our best is better than their best.
We will take game 4 and the series.

no suspensions…the Sens fans will be howling..because of course all the Sens players are angels sent from heaven..and those dirty Canadiens got away with everything…
give me strength I really really need it today..

there probably should have been a couple..but that is not my point they are all crawling out of the woodwork today proclaiming that we are a dirty dirty team..they are totally convinced that Bourque, Prust, White and PK all deserve suspensions..that there has been none will just fuel more crap…

Conacher was skating towards Bourque when Bourque raised his elbow. You could interpret his action as his instinctively attempting to defend himself. Not nearly as bad as a cross check to someone’s face IMO.

@Trini, yeah I’d try to adjust on the power play as well. I think more net presence is the key. With no disrespect to DD, he’s struggled on the power play and is struggling in general right now. Unfortunately the obvious substitution would be Eller … frig. Since that’s not an option, I think they need to go off the board and try someone who will get in Anderson’s kitchen. Prust. Armstrong. Anyone willing to take some cross checks and screen Anderson and attract some attention away from the point, because the Sens are all over our point shooters and giving the slot away.

Was going to post this before game one: the three teams with the fewest wins in their final 10 games were the Habs, Bruins, and Wild. The Wild have ramped up their game, whereas the Bruins and Habs are displaying the same late-season inconsistencies they had in those 10 games. Last year, the Habs were missing their best defenseman, and finished 17 points out of the playoffs. This year, the Sens were missing their best D-man and were able to make it into seventh. Then Karlsson returns, albeit showing lots of rust, and the excellent Jared Cowan also returned and has made a big impact (you can take it as a pun if you want). Then this kid Jean-Gabriel Pageau, slightly smaller than Brendan Gallagher, one year older, appears and appears unstoppable by the Habs. Of course, playing with Alfredsson makes a huge difference, given the fact that Pageau scored all of 7 goals in 69 AHL games. The Sens are clearly better than the seventh seed placement they fell into. They also have 5’8″ Cory Conacher to go along with 5’9″ Pageau so picking on guys like Desharnais misses the point, when playoff teams picked up guys like Matt Kassian, Tom Sestito, and Fraser McLaren, two of whom were picked off waivers.

I agree with those saying that this team shouldn’t be dismissed as completely flawed. Sure, a few changes are necessary, but let’s not get too low because of one horrible game. Even good teams completely crap the bed once in a while and get dominated in every aspect. As difficult as last night was to watch, they are a much better team than that. When they play to their potential, they can beat any team in this league.

Let’s keep a little perspective. With a few changes, we have the core to be a good team for the foreseeable future. We’ve seen how good this team can be for the first 3/4 of this season.

All the sillyness seemed to hinge on a ‘he started it’ mentality, did Maclean not see Smith’s cross check before White threw the two hander? That said, MT made the choice to put that line out after that goal. Poor decision on his part, made us look pretty foolish IMO.

Price desperately needs another rebound game and hopefully some steady tending after next…

Of course they don’t. They are built for other teams to do that to them. They made many mistakes last night but getting pounded and physically dominated isn’t one of them. It wasn’t a mistake it was reality. When you ice such a small, soft team in the NHL, what else can you expect?

That is not even a valid point.
The Habs don’t need to match goons.
They can play physical without being pushed around, case in point, game 2.
The Habs are tough enough to hang in those games, what they can’t do is try to play Bruins style hockey.
They need to stick to their speed game and not get frustrated. They are tough enough for that and we’ve seen it.
The soft and small argument is not even there, and it’s not at all something that is a problem because it’s not even their game.
They just need to skate and play with more intensity, that is all.
Game 2….. or have we forgotten that already?

There you go. You find ways to win. Ottawa has some players running around in a frenzy, Canadiens players. They’re winning the head games and keeping the Habs to the perimeter. Unfortunately the fans love to see PK skate the puck up to the blueline or the guys cycle the puck on the boards. I swear they would rather hear the post hit than see the light go on. How many times have you seen five Habs clustered in the D as Ottawa patiently looks how to squeeze the puck out to the three uncovered guys?

had this been a regular 82 game schedule, would the habs have made the playoffs?

my answer is NO.
reason being, at about the 35 game mark, they started playing poorly.
had the season continued, they would have continued to struggle.
by the same token, neither leafs or sens would have made it also.

lots and lots of work for Bergevin to do.
base on his contracts to DD and Moen, not sure he understands what type of player we need to win.

Maybe one of the reasons that there are no suspensions forthcoming is that the league knows that the officials were a major reason that the game got out of control. Devorski is a veteran, but way too much of a let the boys play kind of Referee. Piss Poor judgment on the part of Gregson et al, but alas what we have come to expect. So far, we have seen 6 Refs- five of whom hail from the province of Ontario. Is that balance and fairness? Could they not have sent us some boys from out west or perhaps an American or two? It smells like a bag job.

If they play like they can, like they did especially in game 2, then they will win the series. If they don’t, Bergevin sees the inadequacies that all of us experts see and will make the team better for next year and future years.

We have a pissload of assets from quality young NHL players all the way down to an excellent scouting staff with lots of picks.

I am not sure Bergevin sees what we see. If he did, he’d use some picks to NOT get Davis Drewiske. He’d get guys like Regher, Torres, Clowe or like. He is following Bobo’s footsteps building a fast munchkin team to play midget AAA.

In one season this team went from 15th to 2nd in the conference. At the end of last season if I would have told you we`d finish 2nd you wouldn`t have believed me.
This team will not be rebuilt in one off season under new management. But win or lose there will be changes for the better.

We know you were just waiting for the team to lose so you can say how right you were about the management team…..like I said, very predictable.

when the season started I would have bet big money that the Habs could not finish ahead of Boston and win their division.
.
We could have won game 1 if not for ridiculously hot goaltending that stole the game.

We won game 2 and we were clearly the better team again.

We were bad last night.

You guys suggesting that we need tons of changes to compete, that this team is terrible defensively, offensively, or in net, that this team is somehow much worse than our record, well, you are simply choosing to ignore the facts.

Whether we come back Tuesday, or even if we lose in 5 games to Ottawa, this team has a very strong core and will be competitive for years to come.

That’s ok. On HNIC PJ and Healey are psychic and know exactly who is secretly envious of who else in the Habs room. There must be foil around the Sens room cause they can’t read them. Weekes and Friedman should have a show on TSN2 or something. Somewhere you could tune in during intermissions and hear relevant comment if you are interested in that stuff.

This what playoff hockey is all about so yes Gainey took the NHL
at it’s word and thought the game would be about speed, skill and finesse with good hard body checking, but alas, it’s not even close.
I knew the Habs were screwed last night on the first shift. PK gets cross checked in the face then Price gets tripped, no call on either, you may call this whining but check the video and tell me I’m wrong!!
Go Habs Go !!

Man oh man. We have had a few of these “get away from our game plan” and not only lose the game but get completely sh*t hammered. It makes you wonder. About what i don’t know,but still.
What i would like to know is how some veterans like Ryder can watch a rookie like Gally go out there and play his heart out and then come out the next shift and float around. I guess one Stanley Cup is enough. Not total panic time yet but Tuesday is definitely like a game 7.
Piss on this hockey for today,i’m going fishing.

Some of you guys crack me up! Bring some of the Bulldongs up? They finished dead last and couldn’t score goals and you want them in to replace our dead and dying injured starters? Well that tells you all about our depth. It’s go with what we have and pray we haven’t been so demoralized that we get our asses kicked in two more games. If we try to keep it close… we lose. If we make every effort to bury them, we have a fighting chance.

Promote the Youth, Support From The Veterans and Remember the Heritage!

I’m tempted to say that Michel Therrien needs to calm down to help his team focus. Then, I remember the time the players were getting punched and felt that no support was coming from Jacques Martin. I’m torn…